Seven Kisses
by MizuneMinamiki
Summary: Seven times Armin and Annie kissed...(Cover image is not mine) AruAni, slight lemon, oneshot COMPLETE


_**For a friend who I shall call Annie C:**_

_**If there are typos or something doesn't make sense, please tell me C:**_

_**Warning: Slight sexual activities**_

_**Cover Image: NOT mine**_

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_The first time he'd given her a kiss,_ it had been on her cheek as a way of thanks for her kind words to him. She complimented him – she rarely did that to anyone – and it made his day, because Annie was _Annie_; she wasn't a best friend he'd grown up with, one that he felt _had _to reassure him because it was like their _duty _as a best friend. She was some soldier-in-training, and she wouldn't just hand out such words of encouragement, either. She'd only say such things to people that she felt deserved it.

And he had most definitely been working _hard_ so that his effort would pay off to help him save his own life and the lives of his comrades, but he had never expected to hear a "you're doing well" from one of the strongest and most respected of those training at his side.

He wasn't able to thank her properly – he tried, but he could only stammer and blush – so he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, one that made his face flush and his stuttering problem even worse for the time being. But Annie seemed to have patience with him even then, something that he wasn't too sure he'd seen from her around many others, and it was then that he realized there might have been some kind of feelings for him lingering in that girl's well-guarded heart.

[...]

_The second time he kissed her, _it had been a chaste touch of his lips to the bridge of her nose. Armin may not have known Annie well, so he couldn't necessarily read her like an open book, but he could definitely tell that she was bothered by the way she looked.

Everyone definitely thought she was beautiful. She had silky blonde hair and dazzling sapphire eyes that always seemed so cold and unforgiving. She was short, thin, and toned. And the only thing about her that could _possibly _seem unattractive was her nose. Not fat, not huge, but curved – a nose with character, as Armin told her to reassure her that it was one of the most beautiful things about her.

And that was the very moment he took her face in his hands and moved forward to kiss her nose. And for the first time, Armin caught a faint blush spreading across Annie's cheeks.

[...]

_The third time he kissed her, _his lips were warm on the back of her hand, eyes opened slightly to meet her gaze as he looked down at her. He decided that, perhaps, he wanted to test out some kind of possible relationship with her. She seemed to at least have some interest in him, and he figured that she might've been willing to give him a chance.

And he made a proposal to her, went on a long explanation of what he loved about her and why he found her so attractive before he finished with an, "Annie, p-please do me the honor of being my…g-girlfriend," and brought her hand up to his lips to kiss it as though she were a princess.

Annie gazed up at him, flattered, her sapphire eyes meeting his from beneath her thick lashes, and her lips were tilted downward in her usual frown. Her cheeks were red, more so than ever before; she rarely blushed, and now, he was more embarrassed than she probably was, to know that he'd been the one to make her seem so flustered.

She scratched absent-mindedly at her upper arm, her fingers tightening around it after a moment. Annie dropped her gaze to look at the ground, shuffling awkwardly. She had no idea how to respond to such compliments; perhaps she would've brushed them off rudely – snapped at him, even – but this was _Armin_, and she certainly didn't want to hurt _him_.

"Annie…?" he prompted, stepping towards her and reaching for her hand again – she'd drawn it back a moment before. But this time, she backed away from him and refused to let him touch her, her eyes flickering back up to meet his.

"….yes."

Armin blinked in mild confusion; had she agreed to be his girlfriend, or had she just acknowledged him for saying her name? He kind of hoped it was only the latter, because he wasn't quite sure how he would deal with having her as a girlfriend. Would their relationship change at all? Would they continue to be the way they currently were, with a little bit of hand-holding and kisses here and there? Or would they slowly begin to lose that friendship they already had, because perhaps they weren't actually cut out for a romantic relationship?

"Excuse me…?" Armin asked, tilting his head to the side as though to ask her to clarify.

"Yes." The blonde girl looked up at him, and he swore he could see her eyes twinkle brightly, happily, for the first time that he'd seen – or at least, remembered seeing. "If you want me to be…"

He smiled enthusiastically, the beginnings of a blush working its way onto his face. "O-Of course! I really do…! I-I'd like to try a relationship with you…"

"Then…it's fine." She nodded curtly at him, signaling her acceptance of their newfound relationship, and then left when he didn't do anything besides smile at her stupidly.

[...]

_The fourth time they kissed, _he finally gathered up the courage to meet her lips with his own. They were alone – she probably would've killed him had he done so in public – and he'd leaned forward slowly, capturing her mouth in a soft and loving manner, kissing her with so much passion that she thought she would choke on it.

They had been together as a couple for a few weeks, well into their training. And already, instead of parting the way he'd thought they would, he and Annie grew closer. She wouldn't spill secrets to him, nor would she tell him things that bothered her when he could clearly tell that she was hurt, but she would listen to him intently when he talked, and she spoke back to him with interest. One time, she had even leaned over to rest against his shoulder.

That was more physical – more open – than she would've ever been with any person besides Reiner and Bertholdt. And it pleased Armin to know that he'd made his way into her heart so quickly, though he certainly still had some coaxing to do.

And that was how he knew that it was the right time to give her a full kiss.

When they did it, they had lingered behind when everyone else headed back after training, and he'd taken her by her hands, lacing his fingers through hers and moving close enough to brush his nose against her own. It was then that he slanted his lips over Annie's, his eyes squeezed shut as though, deep down, he were afraid that she would slap him for it anyway.

But Annie squeezed his hands and kissed him back, tilting her head back to let him deepen the kiss, his tongue dipping past her lips to give her the strangest feeling either of them had ever felt. She gasped quietly and shivered just a little, and just when he thought that he would run out of breath, she pulled away, panting through parted, glistening lips, and looked down at the ground at their feet.

[...]

_The fifth time,_ Annie had been the one to initiate it. A while had passed since they were training together – both had finished, and she was in the Military Police, and he, the Survey Corps. He decided to meet up with her since they hadn't spoken in a while; he began to wonder if their relationship had just ended without either of their intentions.

But when he caught up with her, she looked at him without much of an expression – which, no matter what he knew about how she seemingly never cared, upset him. She took his hand and pulled him with her, leading him toward an alley where they would've been completely hidden from anyone else. And once they were there, before he had a chance to say a single word to her, Annie pulled him down by the collar and kissed him firmly on the lips.

It took him by complete surprise, and for a moment, he wasn't sure how to react. He managed to free himself from her mouth a lot easier than he expected, and he looked down at her with his blue eyes wide in shock, but filled with love. (That emotion had certainly grown stronger in their time apart.)

"Annie…!" he whispered urgently, but he wasn't in any hurry for her to stop kissing him or for their happy meeting to come to an end. He wanted some kind of answer, explanation from her – why was she suddenly craving contact like this?

She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed and stern, muttering, "Shut up…" before she yanked him down again and captured his lips hungrily.

Her kiss was different from the first one they shared on the lips; that one had been sweet and passionate; this one was desperate and forceful. She seemed to be ravenous, devouring his mouth, tasting him on her tongue while their lips clashed. It was a bitter kind of thing that Armin – the poor boy – wasn't used to, but he caught on quickly, meeting her ferocity as he moved his hands up to her cheeks to cup her face.

"Annie," he mumbled against her lips, trying to breathe, breaking the string of saliva that still connected them after their brief, fierce kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes, pleadingly yet lovingly. "I've missed you…"

Even though they were closer now, she didn't want to admit that she'd felt the same. And instead of speaking words, she pulled him down into a much softer kiss.

[...]

_The sixth time that the pair kissed, _he hadn't intended for it to go quite that far. She pulled him by the wrist into her room and locked the door, so that they could be together and completely away from everyone else.

Upon shutting themselves in, his hands immediately found their way to her waist and hers, around his neck. They both leaned in at the same moment, tilting their heads to opposite sides and letting their mouths meet in one long-overdue kiss. Their bodies were pressed close together, his back hunched ever-so-slightly while she stood on her tiptoes to reach his height; she threaded her fingers into his silky hair and pushed his face closer to her own.

Armin wasn't sure how it happened.

One moment, they were kissing, and the next, they fell over onto her bed, him caging Annie between himself and her mattress by his hands on either side of her head. He continued to kiss her lips, while Annie hooked one leg around his waist, bringing her other knee up to his groin to rub against him experimentally. He groaned, breaking the kiss and looking into her eyes, silently asking her _why are you doing this right now…?_ and she did nothing but offer a smile – however faint – and teased him with her knee once again.

He didn't need an answer or assurance; somehow, he knew exactly what to do, and even though his face was flaming red from the feelings swirling up his abdomen and embarrassment, he bent down enough to leave feathery kisses along her neck. Annie didn't waste any time trying to get him out of his clothes while he did so, and he wondered exactly why she was so anxious, anyway.

But he wasn't going to complain at all, even though his thoughts were conflicted. He was going to love her like there was no tomorrow; his shirt was already off, pants unbuttoned, and he was working on her shirt as he kissed every spare inch of skin that he could reach. He didn't know where the courage to do such things came from, but he wasn't going to complain – and he knew that she wouldn't mind, either. She was too excited, hot and bothered, legs wrapped around his waist anxiously as she stared up at him with her usual expression, though her eyes glittered and were darkened with lust.

Not a word was spoken besides their names, and those only came out in soft groans and sharp gasps as he thrust into her again and again, at a slow and steady pace, while his hands held her hips firmly to keep them both in place. His lips moved along any bare skin within his reach, mostly ghosting across her neck and meeting her own mouth in a needy kiss when he thought that she was getting too loud – and it wasn't like he should be one to complain, because he knew that the lewd sounds escaping from deep within his throat were probably louder than her own. He kept a pace that had her melting beneath him in a way that didn't even make her seem like _Annie_.

They finished together, Annie throwing her head back and letting out a scream that he swallowed with a deep kiss, and Armin was so far gone that he just wasn't sure he'd even be able to pull out and roll off her when they both came down from their high. He'd never expected Annie to be okay with such things – especially when it came to _him_, probably the weakest of the whole Survey Corps and most definitely the weakest of all of the trainees to go through the training courses. But she _had_, and he could die a very happy boy now, no matter what kind of death he suffered.

She leaned up to peck him on the lips a few moments later, sighing breathlessly and looking into his eyes with an expression that betrayed her gratitude and her love for him – _Annie_, loving someone, loving _him _– and he carefully rolled off the petite blonde girl and onto his back, staring up at the ceiling and trying to sort out his thoughts. Annie, not quite fond of the lack of contact after such an intimate moment, cuddled him with one arm wrapped around his waist and her head placed on his chest.

"Annie…"

He wasn't sure what to say. In reality, perhaps he only wanted to hear himself speak her name so that he could assure himself that this actually happened, that it wasn't a dream for him to have just had sex with the girl that he was _now _certain that he loved more than anything else in the whole world.

Her response was a gentle kiss to his bare chest, and then her breaths faded into light snores as she drifted off to sleep.

[...]

_The seventh time that he let his lips touch any part of her, _he had only been able to meet the crystal. Cold and hard beneath his hands, he longed desperately to hold her by the shoulders or to wrap his arms around her thin frame the way he had before. But now, he could only touch the hardened crystal that she'd sealed herself within, and when he kissed it, he was met with an emptiness that made his heart ache.

He wished he knew how long she intended to keep herself there so that he wouldn't have this false hope; it was killing him inside. He wondered if one day, he would come to visit and she would be gone. Or perhaps, on a darker note, she'd be slaughtered before she could even take a single step from her crystal prison.

Armin's tears slid down his cheeks as he kept his lips pressed to the crystal – the silent, unmoving, barrier of a crystal, that kept him from the one he'd come to love – and his mind pleaded with Annie to come out. He wished that she could hear his thoughts, or that he could hear hers; all he asked for was some kind of acknowledgement from her, something that would reassure him.

_But apparently_, he realized as he pulled away from the crystal and stared at her closed eyes,_ I'll just have to wait and see how things turn out…_

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_**I hope this was enjoyable and that you all liked it~ Thanks for reading! **_

_**(:Mizune**_


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